Chelsea sign Benfica’s Fernandez for record £106.8m

Premier League side Chelsea announced the signing of Enzo Fernandez from Benfica on Wednesday after a day of complex negotiations as the Argentina midfielder joined for a British record £106.8m.

As the deadline day approached its end, it appeared a deal might not be reached but a statement from Benfica confirmed that it had been agreed late on Tuesday. Chelsea announced the signing on Wednesday morning via a video on Twitter, which showed a clip of a clock ticking down, making a reference to the deadline day.

Benfica’s statement said Chelsea would pay the contract release fee for the 22-year-old, who has signed an eight-and-ahalf year deal with the London club. It takes Chelsea’s transfer spending in January alone to more than £300m. According to media reports, Chelsea will pay the fee in several instalments.

Benfica signed Fernandez in July 2022 from River Plate, who have a 25% sell-on clause. He bagged four goals and seven assists in 29 games in all competitions for Benfica this season.

The £106.8m fee eclipses the £100m Manchester City paid Aston Villa for England midfielder Jack Grealish in 2021.

Fernandez was instrumental in Argentina’s World Cup-winning campaign in Qatar, playing every game, scoring one of the goals in a vital victory over Mexico in the group phase. He capped off the tournament by bagging the young player award.

Benfica boss Roger Schmidt was not keen on seeing Fernandez leave but had said their hands would be tied if a club paid the player’s release clause.

Fernandez is Chelsea’s eighth recruit in the mid-season transfer window after the London club signed Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Andrey Santos, David Fofana and Malo Gusto, while Joao Felix arrived on loan from Atletico Madrid. All of them are 23 or younger.

On Tuesday, Chelsea sold midfielder Jorginho to Premier League leaders Arsenal for £12m. But Paris St Germain’s attempt to sign Morocco’s Hakim Ziyech on loan failed.

Fernandez’s transfer takes Chelsea’s total outlay on players since last May’s takeover by an investment group led by American Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital to about £600m as they try to rebuild their squad.

Chelsea are 10th in the Premier League, 10 points adrift of a top four spot. They next host local rivals Fulham on Friday.

Premier League clubs spent a record £815m in the transfer window, an analysis from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group said on Wednesday.

The biggest spenders were Chelsea, responsible for 37% of the total — equivalent to more than the combined spend by all clubs in the Bundesliga, LaLiga, Serie A and Ligue 1, it said.

Bournemouth were the second largest spenders within the Premier League.